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The Grenada Nevsetter. Friday December 31st 1993 Page 16
HEWS SHORTS From Page 15
Former Miss World Donates : Orer of the British Empire (CBE), Mrs
TV Esther Fletcher and Mr Junior Murray have
both been made Members of the Civil
Division of the Order of the British Empire
Grnadian-bor Mrs Jennifer Hosten-Crai, (MBE).
. m% TT "_ J l 1 _-

ornmer Miss worn presented a television
set to the General Hospital on December
29th.

The gift va-received4yMvAinister of H ealtth
Mr Phinsley St Louis and will be placed in
the female surgical vard.

Hospital Administrator, Mr Douglas
Andrev, told the Government Information
Service he is pleased vith contributions

The names of three Gr-nadians appear on
the Queen's New Year Honours List

Mr Justice Lyle St Paul has been made a
Commander of the Civil Division of the

Sixty British Scholarships
Awarded

A release from the Barbados based British
High Commission says, in 1993, the Britishi
Development Division awarded to the
independent Eastern Caribbean, including
Barbados, sixty new scholarships valued at
some 500,000.

ndies" with a space,
it's out of place..
lies" as we should,
r nationhood.

Over alf o the scholarships were for study
in the United Kingdon, the release says.
The remainder were tenable at various
educational institutions in the region,
including all three campuses of the Uni-
versity of the West Indies and the College
of Arts, Science and Technology in Jamaica.

AGRICULTURE
Nutmens
A continuing problem vas the Nutmeg
sector of that Industry, and vhen the Nutme g
Board of the Grenada Co-operative NutMrg
Association (GCNA) reported to nutmeg
producers at the close of the trading year
ending 30th June 1993, it painted a gloomy
picture.

There was a Net Trading Deficit of
EC $378 million. This was the
third year in which the Association E...
had lost money, the two previous -/
years recording Net Trading Deficits"
of EC $395 million and EC $6.53 million,
and the Board said vorld-wide recession
had weakened market conditions.

Activities of a newly appointed Brussels-
based agent, J.H.B. International Trade &
Finance S.A., had generated a slight increase
in sales, the Boaid said, but this had been at
lover prices.

"This year (1992/93) the Association sold
4.2 million pounds of nutmegs vrhich earned
EC$5.8 million," the Board said, "as
compared vith last y-ears l(1991/92) sale of
3.5 million pounds of nutm egs which earned
EC$7.7 million."
Decline In Earning
With reference to mace, the bi-product of
the nutmeg industry, the Board said the
decline in earnings s a due largely .to a
"drastic reduction in the price per pound of
the Number 2 quality. It had fallen from
EC$3.12 to EC $1.74.

During the Association's trading year under
review, 413,740 pounds of mace vere sold
and earned EC $1 4 million. In the previous
year, 415,160 pounds vere sold and realized
EC$2.1 million.

.As a cost savi~ g measure, several Re-
ceiving Stations vere being operated on
alternate days and the Board vas con-
sidering further measures of this kind,
including a 20% reduction in the work-
force.

S. In the trading year ending 30th
oJune 1990, the Association wrote
3 \off EC$1.2 milOA.Voth of
S unsale"; able produce (nute gs
r. -d1 mace), and the Report for
Zf -ithe year ending 30th June 1993
S- says this stock had then been
dumnped.
Efforts Were Being Made
The Board's Report held out some hope for
the future. Efforts were being made to
create a market in China, it said, and to
regain a larger share of the United States
market.

Additionally, it said, the building being
erected to house the proposed nutmeg
distillation plant was 90% complete and
preparations vere beingmade for installation
and commissioning of the plant

"We anticipate commencing production in
the early part of 1994", the Board said. "The
plant vill utilise approximately 300 tons of
defective nutmegs annually, from vhich we
expect to extract approximately 30 tons of
oil."

The Report said the Association was then in
a very weak financial position because of
Please Mee REEVI-W Pa 3

its dependence on overdraft facilities from
the Banks, but at a press conference early in
December, Minister of Agriculture, Mr
George Brizan, indicated that the dowvnwand
economic slide had been checked.

vaite earned this grant should be seen in
its true light and profitability of the industry
is probably many years away.
No Profit Has Been Made
"'Let me make it clear what ve are talking
about is 'income support.', he said. "We

In January of 1993, he said, Government cannot talk about 'bonus ..., ve vill not be
had had to come to the aid of the Association able to talk about it ('bonus' orsurplus on
in older to save the organisation from trading)for years and years to come, because
financial collapse. The Minister said that, 'bonus" relates to shanng of profits from
'by September, GCNA had achieved "sol- trading, but no profit has been rmde from
venc.' and he itemised projects which nutmegs for the past three years.
provided -
hope f.r .E. WU"L NOT| BE' 'AL TLK' ADOtJT Mr
a return U) ..rizan was
proiabilit. DON..S. FOR EA SAND.Y.AR S
I profitabiity- ---: ;:^: ~J: : : :more optirrmistic.
.T O.iiO W He felt, based on then current
One such project is the proposed' market trends, GCNA should
nutmeg oil distillation plant and, add- achieve sales of 2,000 tons of nutnegs in
itionally, the Minor Spices Co-operative is 1994 and farmers vo.ud enjoy a 'bonus" in
expected to provide another outlet for the that year.
Association with their proposed plant to
grind, blend and package spices for end- Total ales of nutegs in 1986 was 3,362
use s tonw In thio aon 1087 ta 1Q9K tlan af

Mr Brizan refernd also to irsearch now
being done on the feasibility of extracting
two chemical compounds fiom the nutm&in
One is SWpqriaK 'w-hich, the Minister
said, is lo in volume but high in value.
Will Give An Opportunit
The other is taiie w-hich, he said, is
used extensively in the cosrretic taJde and.
which will give an opportunity to add value
to the product, movir.ng it in the market from
the ra rmatenial to an intermediate stage.

'Speaking at that press corifemnce, Prirm
Minister Nicholas Brathwaite disclosed What
the European Eonomic Community (EEC),
now the European Union (EU), had approved
a grant to Grenad.a of EC $2.65 rmillon frm
STAB EX, the EU fund for supporting
agriculture in the African, Caribbean and.
Pacific (APC) countries of the Lome
iConvention.

SThis money was to be paid outt the island's
.6.000 plus nutmeg fanners, but Mr Brath-

Bananas
As the year closed, the future of the Banana
Industry remained unclear and threatened.

Traditionally, along withfruit from the other
Windward Islands, (St Vincent, St. Lucia and
Dominica) Gienada's bananas have enjoyed
protection on the British rmaket. As long
as the Windvards could supply that market,
none of the cheaper priced dollar '
bananas from Central America vere t
allowed min.

With irrplenrntation of theU x-
European Single Market .
(ESM), nov the European
Union (EU)- and from July
1st 1993, this protection '
came to an eand and, under a
special arrangement vith the EU,
a system of licences was introduced.

Under that system, Windvards' fruit
(together withfruitfromtbeother African
Caribbean and Pacifi {APC } countries
of Lome) is duty free throughout the EU
and without quantitative restrictions up
to the highest tonnage shipped over the
last six years.

"Dollar banais, on the other hand, were
given a limited licence of two trillion tons
annually on vhich a duty of about
US$100.00 per ton imust be paid. That
licence limit may be exceeded, but duty must
then be paid at nearly US $900.00 per ton on
the excess.
Have Challenged It
The producers of "dollar' bananas are not
satisfied with this arrangement and have
challenged it as beirn inconsistent with rules
of the Gemneal Agreenent on Trade &-
Tariffs (GATT).

In an effort to head off this challenge, after
discussions vith the United States of
America. the EU has put forward. a proposed

amended ag~sement. That would increase
the "dollar banana annual licence to 2.1
million tons in 1994 and. to 2.2 million tons
in 1995, this latter level to remain in effect
until the end of 2002.

Caribbean producers and distributors
have expressed their concerns to the EU
over these proposals vhich are considered
potentially devastating to the Banana
Industries in the Windvards, Jamaica and
Belize.

Fears appearto be vell.founded thatthere
vill be a further fall in pnces as extra
S frait flood analready over-
\ tpplied Eumrpean market. In
.: uly, the price vas 520 per
o, it fell to 430 in Decem-
/ / boer and some observers feel the
S -ne EU proposal vill driie it
z lown to 380.
H as A Deadline
Latin American "dollar" banana producers
have been given until rmd-Fe brary to accept
or reject the EU proposal which has a
deadline of the end of March for final
confirmation.

"We call at Grenada once a fortnight for
250 tons of bananas vhen the other
islands are each shipping between 1,000
and 2,000 tons per veek," he said, "and
it is clear hov uneconomical that situation
s._"

Mr Rapier said if Grenadian famners do not
increase their production, Geest will have to
pull out its ba sna boats.
Plea See REVIEW Page 5

The C hainnan had a airing too about the
quality of bananas produced for shipment to
the EU to compete vith dollar ? bananas.

"We novhave to compete vithtop quality
bananas," he said. "No longer can we say
ve have 30% top quality, 50% second
quality and the balance hopeless stuff,
because ve are not gong to be able to sell
the hopeless stuff."

Cocoa
Thebooks of the Grenada C oco:aAssociation.
(GCA)" show that on September
30th 1993 the end of its trading
year, results were not as bad as
had existed at 30th September f
1992.

In the latter year, production was the
lowest on record, 2.9 million pounds, and
gross sales were only EC$7.2 million. In
1993, preliminary figures show production
had risen to 3.5 million pounds and sales to
EC$8.0 million.

But, the Cocoa Industry is not yet "out of
the red" and, in 1992 and 1993 vas able
to function only as a result of grants
received. These grants totaled EC $3 16
million in 1992 and and EC $191 million
in 1993.

In 1992, after the Association had paid its
expenses, including the running of its
Technical Division, it vas left .ith sorc
EC$2.4 million fbm its gross sales.
Having advanced EC $4.5 million to farmers,
it was left .vith a deficit of over EC $2
million.
In This Instance
The picture in 1983 is similar. The residue
of the gross sales in this instance was EC $.2
million and, after EC $5 million was
iavanced to farmers, the deficit was EC $1.76
million.

But, in 1992, the Association received grants

fiom Government the Canadian Inter-
national Development Fund and the Europ-
ean Union. These grants totaled EC$3.16
million which sum wiped out the deficit and
left the Association with just over EC$1.0
million.

The same donors gave the Association
EC$1.9 million in 1993, which sum, after
the deficit was taken care of, left a small
balance of less than EC$200,000.

These figures do not support comments
of Mr George Brizan, Minister of Finance,
made at the Association's Annual Gen-
ral Meeting on 15th February 1993,
folbving the close of the crop-
1991/92. Of the three
Commodity Boards, he said,
"the Cocoa Association is the
nly one that is liquid and,
to tents and purposes, fairly
financially sound."
On The Contrary
Government, he said, had had to step in and
rescue both the Grenada Banana. Co-
operative Society and the Grenada Co-
operative Nutmeg Associationfromfinanciaal
difficulty "vbile, on the contrary, GCA had
recently paid a bonus of EC $1.2 million to
its members-"

GCA did, indeed, pay out EC$1.235
million to its members, but this was made
possible only because of the grants
received and not because the Association
is "liquid" or "fairly financially sound".

The Review of the GCA Chairman, Mr
Ravyr,'nd Rush, presented at that General
Meeting, was in conflict with Mr Brizan's
assessment of the financial state of the
Association.

According to Mr Rush, the drop in product-
ion had made it impossible for the Ass-
ociation to meet its contractual obligations
and as aa further handicap, the international
Pleae See REVIEW Pare 6

- -- I

The Grenada Newsletter Friday December 31st 1993. Page 6

REVIEW From Page 5
market had collapsed to its lowest level in
20 years.

"These two developments made it im-
possible to achieve our plans for financial
self-suffiiency which we had hoped to
achieve during the year," he said.

However, in his Review for the crop year
1992/93, presented ati '_
the Annual General ..
Meeting on Septem eber
23rd 1993, MrRuhvas optimistic.

The Interational Cocoa Market would
record. its second successive production
deficit, he said, 102,000 metric tonnes
compared with 64,000 metric tonnes in the
previous year, and these deficits reduced
world stocks from 1.3 million tones to 1.1
million tonnes, from a 7 month supply to a
5.5 month supply.

"While this deficit and reduced stock has
not had any significant effects on the
market prices so far," Mr Rush said,
"most forecasters believe its effect will
begin to be felt during the 1993194 crop
year."

There are indications, the C hairrmn said,
that there vill be an even larger deficit in
1993/94 and that manufacturers will start-
buyin aggressively.

Addressing that General Meeting, Mr Brizan
echoed Mr Rush's optimism. If all goes
veil in 1994, he said, the Industry vill be
back to an annual production of 4 million
pounds with prospects of even greater
growth.

Fisheries
Repeated efforts to get statistics relative the
performance of the Fisheries Department in
1993 have met with failure. NEWS-
LETTER vas advised that "special per-
mission" had to be obtained to get this
information but., reretfully, no official Was

found who could give this permission.

Tourism
Available figures from the Grenada Board
of Tourism show that, for the period January
to November 1993, Grenada welcomed
84,686 stayover visitors, a figure 5,101
higher that 79,585, the stayover visitors
statistic for the same period in 1992:

The figures shov, however, that, as com-
pared with 1992, while stayover visitor
statistics increas-
ed every month
from January to
uly, they de-
creased every month fromAugust to No-
vember.

For the period January to July 1993, the
total increase of stayover visitors was
13 1% higher than the same period in
1992 but because of falling figures, the
total increase had dropped to 6.4% by
the end of November.

By far the greatest number of stayover
visitors in the January to November period
of 1993 came from the United States of
Amenrca. They totaled 27,727. That figure
is 24.4% higher than the figure for the same
period in 1992 and is 32.7% of total arrivals
over the period January to November 1993.

Excluding Grenadians residing abroad,
stayover visitors from Caribbean Com-
munity counties registered the next highest
figure for the relevant period. This figure,
12,684, is 14.97% of the total arrivals for
January to November 1993 and is 14.3%
lover than the figure for the January to
November 1992 period.

In the period January to November 1992,
13,701 Grenadians livingabroad visited their
homeland. In the corresponding period in
1993, this figure increased to 14,264.

Pleas See REVIEW Pare 7

--

The Gritada Nevsletter Friday December 31st 1993 Page

REVIEW From Page 6
Duing the period under review, cruise ship
calls fell to 279 from the 1992 figure of
-303. :However, cruise ship
passengers increased to 147,226
by 8.09% from the 1992 figure
of 136202.

and report on the General Hospital com-
missioned by then Minister of Tourism &
Women's Affairs, Mrs Joan Purcell,
vithoutthe knowledge of then Minister
of Health, Mr Michael Andre.

A copy of the report vhich is very

Political f unfavourable, fell into theblids of
The year opened ith allegations Dr Mitchell, and he tabled a
of vote buying in the House of Motion calling for a Commission of
Representatives. Winding up the ..Inquiry into conditions at the
debate onithe 1993 Budget, Prime 7 'Htospital.
Minister 'Nicholas Brathwaite / ,
alleged that Members of the House -L The Motion failed, but the debate
had beenoffered money to bring PRHE INISTE generated heated exchanges and
dovn th ruling National Demo- NICHOLAS BRAT HWAITE brought out differences which
cratic Congress (NDC) Government by existed in the NDC.

voting against the Budget.

lis comments pointed to Dr Keith Mitchell,
Political Leader of the New National Party
(NNP) and a Member of the Opposition,
but Dr Mitthell denied to NEWSLETTER
iii an interview that he had had anything to
do with such a plot.

That there had been such a plot was
confirmed by' Mr Winston Frederick,
Member of the Opposition, who told the
House e had been offered EC $25,000 to
vote against the Budget.

release from Dr
Francis Alexis, Attor-
ney General, said the.
matter had been put
in the hands of the
Police, but there have
been no further state-
ments on the matter.

,Reports of dissent within
S the ranks of the NDC
MR MICHAEL ANDREWVere confirmed on
February 16th when there was an open
squabble on the floor of the House of
Representatives.

Basis of the squabble was an investigation

Mr Andrev told the House it was general
knowledge there were two "sides"' i the
Government but he belonged to r;iter.
He was on the Government side of the House
only "in body" but his spirit was on the
Opposition side.

In an interview vith NEWSLETTER, Dr
Mitchell said he saw one "teait in Gov-
ernment as comprising the Prime Minister,
Mr Phinsley St Louis, Minister f'Woits
and Mrs Purcell. Dr Francis Alexis Minister
of Legal Affairs and Attorney .Geeral is a
"loner" he said, and Mr An.rev. yas
"standing alone".
The Reason For Dismissal
On March 2nd Mr Brathvaite fired Mr
Andrew from the Ministry of Health but
denied that Mr Andrew's row vith Mrs
Purcell was the mason for dismissal.

The reason, Mr Brathwaite said, was two-
fold. First, Mr Andrew had attacked
him as Prime Minister duringthe debate.
Secondly, some time previously, Mr
Andrew had reported to him that an
announcer on one of the loal radio
stations had criticized him (Andrev).

The Prine Minister said Mr Andmr told
Plame See REVIEW PEae 8

p-~mm Sbe RV --- Pam 8

IT

The Grenada Newsletter Fnday. iecemmber 3Ist 1993 Page 8

REVIEW ram Pagt )
RLUTl W. -cm PaMe 7
him that, if the Prinim eis-e, did ,.: tae
action against the anrmoumr, he -Andre: )
vould arrange to ha.e the annonm-er bteaen
up. . .
Mr BanthVaite said Mr Andrev vwa
irresponsible" and be could not have in
his Cabinet "anybody who would make
the kind of statement which would take
s back to those bad okl days.

Mr: Adrew, howewr, was not out of the
Cabinet for long. On July 1st, on Mr
Brathwaite's recommendation, Governor
General Sir Reginald Palmer appointed
him Minister of State in the Ministry of
Fimanr, the Ministry beaded by the
Prime Minister himself

No reason was given .fbr, Mr Brathwaite's
change of mind, but it is reported ieria were
apologies by both Mr Andrew an Mr
Purcell.

This incident did not. improve the image of
i DC and results of a poll commissioned by
nthe Gienadian Voice", and. published i.
August, showed this part-y captinng only
2% of the votes, the lorvet figure gained by
any party.

Dr Mitchell's NNP gairneid hie.st

-lnuber, .f votes, 17.9%, ;:but these results
miat be interpreted against the fact that
31..5% of those polled were undecided and
'273%-gave no answer.

Thei is, therefore, an indication that 58.8%
of Te electorate is still to make up its mind
and" when decisions are made finally, the
picture painted by the poll could change
significantly.

The poll does reflect a general feelig that
NNP has a good chance of inning the
rfxt elections, but there is also a wide-
spirad opimon that, vhie Dr Mitchell is
a popular Political Leader, he does not
haawd atatractiw team with bim.

Th. h~iLcI... posed by this opinion was

admtted by Dr John
Watts NMP
Chairman, at a
press confer-
ence- on March 16th which conference, he
aid, had been. called to connectt the-party's
public image", .
Recently Retired
WitUh thins m vie-, two new members of te
party 'wee mntrxodied. One was Mrs
Cud.e Hutchinson, former prominent
member of Sir Eric Gairy's Grenada Unied
Labio-r Party and the other was Mr. William
Ot-ay, r n-cntly retired Manager of LAT's
Grenarda office. -

An-oiher nw N"NP mnernber was announced
on April' -h He is Mr Mark leaac,
_l I. eriT I Granada's Consul General in
New IYor .

The possibility of another party entering the
political arena was evident in March when
the ieispper, "Grenada Today" reported
: that JpFisseti. ives. of the Private Sector
wem-e al bot to launch .new party.
Pleas See REV W FPes 9

Interviewed by NEWS LETTER, prominent
Grenadian business an ad former Pres-
ident of the Grenada Chamberof Commerce
said the newspaper report was "inaccurate".

What had happened, he said, was that a
group of busessmen had got
together to analyse the acting
political parties with a view to
finding out whether there is any
"credible group" with which they
could align

If this search proved fruitless, he
said, the alternative would be to "/
launch a new party. Noth- '' /I .
ing further has been heard -
of this initiative.
GOYERNOE
The traditional Throne Speech, SIR REGINA

Two other assets have been listed for
privatization, the Central Garage and
Grenada Electricity Services (GRENLEC),
and, with an advertised closing date of
October 15th, 7 bids were received for the
Purchase of "a significant sham" in
GRENLEC.

S On November 16th, Government
published a short-list of three
organizations whose bids were being
considered but, by year's end, no
choice had yet been announced.

read in the House on October 23rd by the
Governor General disclosed that personal
and corporate income taxes were to be re-
introduced as part of the 1994 National
Budget
Were To Be Abolished
It disclosed also that the Business Levy and
Debt Service Levy were to be abolished
while the Value Added Tax (VAT) vould
be converted into a "broad based con-
sumption ta..

The Govemor General said the Tourism and
Cocoa Industries had done "very vell",
performance of the national economy was
"encouraging", and a 1% growth was
expected. Also expected in 1993, he said,
as a result of Government's Structural
Adjustment Plan, was the first current
account surplus since 1991.

At year's end, the 1994 Budget had not yet
been presented.

During 1993, Government continued to
pursue its privatisation proganmme which it
launched in 1992 with the sale of controlling
interests in the National Conmercial Bank
(NCB).

Union Council and comprising some 17
organizations.
Should Notave Been Sold
NJCCP argues that NCB vas a profitable
enterprise which should not have been sold
and the same is true of GR ENLEC. How-
ever, Government says, these enterprises ar
better run by the private sector.

Additionally, in order to provide counterpart
funding for infrastructure development,
Government says, the funds generated by
the sale of these enterprises are needed.

Labour
At year's end, a dispute between the
Grenada Seamen & Waterfront Workers
(SWWU) and the Grenada Port Authority
was on "hold" pending the outcome of a
case filed by the Union.

Background to the case is that, sometime in
1992, Government announced it would place
in the hands of the Port Authority the
handling of labouron the St George's docks.
This was resisted by SWWU which,
historically, has had the monopoly for
handling all dock labour.
Pla See REVIEW PaW 10

REVIEW From PAge 9
Takeover was fixed originally for Ma-chn 1st
1993 but was deferred until Ist. September
1993. Howe-ver, m August the Port,
Authority announced it "thought it prudent
to postpone the implementation date".

On December 1st 1 SWWU filed Court..
documents see kig an injumntion prohibiting
the Port Authority fom taking ove r the dock
labour and a hearing is expected earlyin tie
new year.

ments and the next step vas to have been
Sthe holding of a refeirndum in each of the
islands.

However, on December 30th 1992, in reply
to a question in the Grerna.a House of
Repres eitatives, DrFrat is Ale is, Attoney
General and Leader of Grenada's delegation
to the RGA., said, before a iuferend.im can
be held, there had to be consultation among
the. iads. of Gove nie.rn other Heads of
politica.f parties presented in" Parliament

On May 18th, trade unionists, under- the and others.
banner of the ut da,

Council (TUC), picketed Sj r'SbEen. no a ,nouzement
Paii a me i A __ lE_.,, r ,n, ,,. A ', I. -atve to il
Building in pro- l^-"aBl .7t. C ctcone of

test against passage. of a Bill to amend the
Trades Dispute (Arbitration & Inquiry) Act.

The amendment allowed the State, at any
time, to set up an Arbitration Tribunal to-
settle trade disputes in "areas of vital interest.
to the State", and, acting on the advice of
the Minister of Labotur, t Governor
General may instruct the Tribunal that. its
awaid will be final and binding.

An appeal is allowed to the High Court but.
only on points of law, an the TUC pnrtested.
that the rights of workers were being
violated.

The amendment as p.as-sed by Fariament..

Windvard Islands Unity
Dunnrig 199*3, them were no develop-
ments with reference to the Region 1
Consultative Assembly (RCA\ the body
appointed by the Govern.mnents of the
Windvard Islands to consult the people
of t-he island andn pepare- a plan for
political unification of the VWid.rvads.

RC A met lat in Marh 1992,-' hen a Reportl
vas adopted, submitted to the four Goverm-

these consultations.

CARICOM Unity
The; Westndian Commission, appointed by!
the Heads of Govemr:ment of the Carbeanr
Community (CARICOM) to consultvith the
people and consider.r how best to bring
about real b-tteime.nt in their conditions of
life.... and to improe tLheir Region's place
in the comm-rnait of nations" submitted its
report to the Heads on October 28th 1992.

Core or the Report is recorn-nenrdation of
appointment of a CAi:iOM! Commission!
aimed at. pmvido g inh.nery to fill thel
"impementation gap" wbichv tir Westmidiani
Corr~ission sas-, is the: veak point of the
movement to.r as litical and ,ec-nomic
integration. o

The Heads did not accept the recommend-
ation. Instead, they created a 'CAR I-
COM Bureau" comprised of the Current
Chairman of the Community vith the in-
coming and out-going Chairmeni

It is not known how successful this Bureau
has been at expediting decisions, but a
-release from the CARICOM Secretariat in
Please See REVIEW Page 11!

April 1993 advised that C ARICOM officials
were then examining details relative to
fomiation of "Association of Carbbean
States" (ACS).

The release said the move follows a global
trend. towards formation of larger groupings
and the CARICOM Bureau had identified
iritir-trade liberalisation and trade promotion
as possible areas in which the grouping
would have advantages of co-
operation.
Had AlreadvBeen Areed

Point Salines International Airport

Statistics
that, with.
movemen
1989, LI
that field
December

By a na
l-

!A month later, in May, Dr -
EdvinCarmngton, C AR: OM
Secretary Genenal, said in
SGrenada a a a meeting of Foreign
Ministers tiat the concept of
lACS had already been agreed to
by the CARICOM Heads off Gov-
ermrient with a view to advancing
economic integration and funct-
ional co-opertion with tie
States of Central and Latin :"i
America. f .

How far ths rew initiative s PIM MIISTER
I MAURICE BISHOP
pro.g rssed is not known.
Inter Ag.
Another aspect of rgional integration before thi
discussed at that Foreign Ministers' nreting
vas a proposed Joint Co-opeation Corn- The contr
mission with Cua. a loan of
an mteres
That Commssion was to be a preonuiary ority, ho
to having Cuba as an observer at CAR I- loan with
COM meetings but the matter had to be and, in S
deferred vhen Dr Francis Aleis, deput- the Nati
izing as Chairman for Prime Minister and side ring t
Foreign Affairs Minster, Mr Nicholas
Brathvaite, raised the question of dem- Octo
ocracy in Cuba When the
I _.at Fort
Consideration of a Joint Commission vith commem,
Cuba must raise consideration of dem- was a rad
locracy in Cuba, he said, and Dr
Carrington undertook to hae further The cere
talks vith the Cuban Gowrnment and fint inst
report back. ___

published in Janimr 1983 show
Sa declining share of passenger
ts through Point Salines since
&T handed over the leadership in
to SWIA in the January to
* 1992 period.

rro margin of 12%, BWIA
3d 91,883 or 34.22% of all
passenger rmvements (total of
arrivals and departures) while
LIAT's total was 88,649 or
33.02%.

Work on resurfacing the
runway was started on
August 28th by the successful
bidder, the Swiss firn of Wiltgen
and was expected to be corrpleted
e end of October.
Seeking To Replace
nctis provided the financing with
US$7.4 rrrlion over 15 years at
t rmt of 7%. The Airport Auth-
sever, was seeing' to, replace this
one in East Caribbean currency
epteaner, it was announced that
nal Commercial Bank vas con-
Ihe natter.

'ber 19th Commemoration
10th anniversary of the n-assacie
George (then Fort Rupert) was
orated on 19th October 1993, there
ical change in the focus.

mony, performed at the Fort and
ituted in 1988, had, originally,
Pleae See REVIEW Page 12

In 1993, however, it was changed to
commemoration of the deaths of Prime
Minister Maurice Bishop and those who
vere murdered with him and a plaque to
their memory was unveiled.

The plaque states it was erected by the
Maurice Bishop & October 19th Martyrs
Foundation "with the co-operation of the
Government of ,Grenada" and bears Bishop's
name and the names of his colleagues and
friends who were killed on that day.

Incident With Pakistani Cricketers
Fourmembers of the touringPakistancricket
team, Wasim Akr-anm, the captain, Waqua
Youris, the vice-captain, Mushtaq Ahmed
and Aqib Laved, were ansted in Granada
on April 8th and charged with being in
possession of marijuana.

The incident took place about 10.30 pm on
Grand Anse beach and three other persons
found by the Police vith the Pakistanis were
arrested also. They were Susan Ross and
Joan Coughlin, Englishworren and hnrin
"Zacm" Wilson, a Grmnadian.

The Pakistanis, ordered to appear in Court
on April 13th vere release ed on bail. Their
Manager, Mr Mammood changed publicly
tlat his players had been framed, th that e
charge was frivolouss" and th-at, unless the
matter was "settled ar icabtly the rest of
the Caribbean tour vould be called off.

On April 12th, the Director of Public
Prosecutions, Mr Keith Friday, vith-
drev the charges against ll seven
persons, and, on April 16th made a
public statement that this action had
been taken, not because there was
insufficient evidence, but "having
'regard to all the circumstances".
t

Future Of United States Embassy
Mr llie Anderson, Charge d'Affaires of the
United States Embassy in Grenada, said at
a press conference on September 8th that
there was no assurance that the Embassy
would remain in Grenada for the indefinite
futmui.

Other Matters
Pnime Minister Nicholas Brathewite signed
a loan ageemeent on January 2nd for the
rebuilding of the Financial Complex
which was destroyed by fire in April 1990.

Cost of reconstruction vas US$14.9 million,
part of the money was to come from the
Luxemburg based Banco de Napoli and part
from the Italian contracting fimi, Messis
EXEN.

Work vas expected to begin within two
months and be completed in 36 months.

At. yeas end, no work iad ben done and it
was reported tiat the Agriement had fallen
fen

On Febnmar 1st. the ground breaking
ceremony took lac tok to launch the tnree-
year building programme of the StI
George's University School of Medicine

The ceremony took place at the True Blue
campus and, on October 18th, the Geoffrey
Bourne Complex was dedicated to the
memory of Ge offrey Bourne, the Unrivesity's
first Vice-Chancellor

As of 31st March, the Ministry of Health
reported that there were then 69 persons oni
the island testing AIDS HIV positive.

On October 20th, Dr Franklin White,
Director of the Caribbean Epideriology
Centre told a seminar in Grenada hat within
a fairly short period of time, the impact of
Please See REVIEW Pae 13

OnAugust 6th, the eye of hurricane"Bret"
skirted the north coast of Trinidad, travelling
in a vesterly direction, and Grenada
experienced heay rain and soe vind-
damaged roofs.

On september 22nd, Dr Francis Aledxs,
Attorney general and Minister of Legal

December 31st 1993 Page 13

affairs, clarified the position with reference
to the length of detention of the 14 persons
convicted of the murder of Maurice
Bishop and others.

In Grenada, a "life sentence" is taken to
mean a prison term of about 15 years he
said. H however, rlese 14 persons have not
been given "life sentences" but are to be
confined "for the rest of their natural lives".

...........mm god

GER ADA' GIRQAOWT

EATE P ALLS

The Cropwth rate feT in 1991 amr 1992 to 2.9% a dc
0.6% respectV~Ely

ETWEEN TH E YEARS 1986 cultum 's contribution to the Gross Domes
and 1990, activity in the Grenad- Pduct (GrDP) declined from 18.6%
ian econonry expanded at an i 89 to 13.7% in 1992.
m average mate of 5.5%.
T ie ConerMingp brnanas, this indius t has be
This is the finding of the now-published Af d by moveentof frr io c
Report of the Eatern Caribbean Central f ts
requiring less inteLnsive rmthods of cul
Banr (ECCB) for the financial -W erded ti ECCB says, ad movement ii
on 31st ,Ma"h 1993. Acco irng to ECCB otr commeia activities.
as Government took rreawsues to adjust to Gradual Reduction In Acreage
internal and extenil imbalances, the growth .
ith Consequently, there has been a gradi
rate fell in 1991 acdl 1992 to o 2.,9% and 0.6% '- -
11oductdion in acreage devoted to large scu
rspectiVFiy. banana farnn.g and the contraction of
indiutry, which began in 1987, continue
"Economic activity durmg this period was into 192, production falling, durwi
affected also by a fall in international l r yea, y to 6,379 tores.
prices for the main crops" the Report
says. In addition, activity in the Sic the bakdon, in 1989, of
construction sector......was depressed. Maeting AgrenEnt between the Grena
The year also witnessed slower growth in Co-operative Nutmeg Association (GCN
the Tourism sector-"
ouarism nd the Indornesian nutmeg exporters,
A tNutm g Industry has been depressed b
Agnculture is the backbone of _,Granada despite lo inteatioral prices, producti
despite low international prices, product
economy, and the Repozt. says, because of relrmain fairly stable between 1989
poor performance of the traditional crops I.
particularly bananas and nutmeg, agi- Plase See ECONOMY Page

During that period, GCNA maintained a
relatively good fam-gate price to produces
but, in 1992, that price fell significantly from
EC$1.00 to EC$0.40 per pound.

"Farmers responded to the reduction in
price by reducing production, the report
says, and nutmeg output fell by 11.2%
to 2,336 tonnes."

The C ocoa Industry which suffered, during
the latter part of the 1980s, from low
international prices andi !or yields from
aging trees, rebounded in 1990, EC CB says.

Unfavourable weather
conditions ;Sq
c n n
tribe
uted ;

i_" -" 26 .1% pro-
duction fall in 1991, but
opuput recovered in 1992, increasing by
17.1% to 1,628 tonnes. According to
ECCB, production is expected to decline
again in 1993, but impact of the Cocoa
Rehabilitation Prograwrne is expected to
stabilise production in subsequent years.
Five Years Of Strong Grovth
Notwithstanding a decline mi 1992, the s hae
of the Constirction sector to the GDP
remained a approximately 10%. This
decline followed five years of strng growth
averaging 15%perannum, the ECCB Report
says, a growth w-hch subsided in 1989.

Construction of two new hotel facilities
induced some stimulus in this sector, ECCB
says, but it was not enough to compensate
for the relatively low level of public sector
construction activity.

Due to a slowdown in Tourism, the Service
sector, whichaccounted for68% of the GDP,
suffered a decline in 1992, the Report says.
Girovth in this sector was 2.6% following a
growth rate of 3.3% in 1991.

Following a growth rate of 8.6% in 1991,
total tourist arrivals increased by a mere
0.2%, numbering 290,639, arn, reflecting
this slow-don, value-added in hotels and
restaurants grew by only 3.8% as compared
with 11% in 1991.
Inflation Rate
According to the Report, the Corsumer Price
index shows an inflation rate of 2.6% in
1992 while vage increases in the private
sector rose by an average of 10%. Wage
settlerrnts in the .-_, I

PPublic
r-sector vere compar-
i actively mui-h lover with govern-
ment employees finalising an
"agreement awarding increases of
2.5% in 1992 and 3% in each of the
following tw.o years.

"The decline in economic activity com-
bined vith staff reductions in the public
sectorcontributed toarelatiely high level
ofunemployment duringtheyeare" EC C B
says. "Consquently, the unemployment
rate may have been as high as 30% "

According to ECC B, preliminary indications
in the area of Public Finance are that their
Grenada Government's operations in 1992
resulted in a cunent acc ount surplus of EC $4
million or 0.9% of the GDP.

Revenue yields were adversely affected by
the slow down in economic activity and by
industrial unrest but receipts from direct
taxes rose to 3.1 % of the GDP. However,
improved performance of direct taxes was
offset by reduced yields from taxes on
expenditure.

An increase in the ags bill pushed
Goveirrnent expenditure up by 3.6% over
the 1991 fi-ure, ECCB says, but Governm-
Plea See ECONOMY Paee 15

-

The Grenada Nevsletter Friday December 31st 1993 Page 15

NEHWS SHORTS

British Books For Carriacou
Library

Some 700 books have been presented by
the British High Commission, on behalf of
the London based Ranfurly Library Serice,
to the newly opened Camacou Community
Library-

According to a release from the Grenada
office of the High Cmrmission, the books
cover a vide ange of subjects from
children's story books to adult fiction.

Stayover Visitor Statics Up

Figures released by the Statistical Departnent
of the Grenada Board Of Tourism show that,
for the first eleven months of 1994, stayover
visitors totaled 84,696, an increase of 6.62%
over the corresponding period in 1992.

ECONOMY From Page 14
rent contained expenditure on goods and
services within the result that total expen-
diture remained virtually constant at 34%
of the GDP.

"Preliminary estimates of the balance
of payments indicate the deficit on the
merchandise trade account improved
in 1992", the Report says.

Export earnings fell by 13;9%, but there
was a 9% decline in imports and the
currentaccountimbalance which widened
by 32% in 1991, moved from EC $98.7
million to EC $74.7 million in 1992.

With reference to the service balance,
ECCB says this improved only slightly
due to a moderate increase in tourist
receipts
aea~swa~aaaaaa~~~ l~iap~bs c EMi

In November, however, stayover visitors
fell to 6,762, a 23.58% drop from the figure
for November 1992.

There were 33 cruise ship arrivals during
November 1993, bringing 18,776 passengers
and, to the end of November, moving the
total for the year to 175,601, a 1% increase
over the corresponding period in 1992.

New Chines Ambassador

Ambassador to Grenada of the Republic of
China on Taiwan, Mr Lin Tsun Hsien, left
the State late in December, having served, in
this post since 20th May 1992.

Ambassador Lin will be succeeded by
Ambassador Hsu-C hi-Ming W ho is expected
to present his credentials early in January
1994.

Grenada Hotel Wins Award

The Government Information Service
(GIS) has announced that the Gem
Holiday Beach Resort at Morne Rouge,
St George's Grenada is the winner of
the "Hotel, Restaurant and Catering
Field" avard for 1994.

This award. as established in 1976 by
the Editorial Office Publishers And
Traders Leaders Club based in Madrid,
Spain, and is given annually, coinciding
with the International Tourism Fair held
in Spain.

According to GIS, Gem Holiday Resorts
was chosen from among 120 partici-
pating countries as one of the most
outstanding establishments in the tourist,
hotel, restaurant and catering fields.
Pleaae See NEWS SHORTS Page 16